Plassnik: "Barbaric act must not drive Pakistan off its path to democratisation"

27.12.2007

Foreign Minister on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto

Vienna, 27 December 2007 - Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik appeared shocked and outraged after having heard the news of the assassination of Pakistani opposition politician Benazir Bhutto: "In her, Pakistan has lost a courageous fighter for the country’s return to a pluralistic democracy. For extremists, Benazir Bhutto was a double enemy stereotype: a strong woman who asserted herself in Pakistan’s politics, and a politician who was rooted both in the traditions of Pakistan and the democratic modern age. She personified the compatibility of these two pillars of a progressive Pakistan, and was thus a direct challenge to the Stone Age ideology that Islamist forces want to spread through violence and terror," stated Plassnik.

"This barbaric act was also a direct attack on Pakistan’s security and path to democratisation. The most fitting tribute that could be paid in any commemoration of Benazir Bhutto would be for Pakistanis to present the bill to these extremists in the forthcoming elections and to demonstrate their democratic maturity," concluded the Foreign Minister.